7 grants for well-established and outstanding researches and 63 grants for researchers with a PhD degree conferred within 5 to 12 years prior to the proposal submission year have been awarded under MAESTRO and SONATA BIS. The winning applicants will carry out basic research projects with a total value of nearly 235.7 million zlotys.
MAESTRO 14 and SONATA BIS 16 are addressed to researchers experienced in independent academic work who wish to are acquire funds for the most advanced undertakings requiring involvement of many researchers and purchase or manufacturing of research equipment. MAESTRO and SONATA BIS projects can be carried out over a period of 36, 48 or 60 months. There are no caps on funding for single projects and the rationale of the budget is subject to experts’ evaluation.
MAESTRO funding can be used for pioneering, including interdisciplinary
, research significant for the development of science that goes beyond the current state-of-the-art and may result in scientific discoveries. Eligible applicants must be well-established and outstanding researchers with a PhD degree, who have managed at least two research projects funded under national or international calls over the last ten years, published at least five papers in renowned Polish or foreign academic press/ journals and meet the other call requirements (delivered lectures and speeches at conferences, received awards, have been members of associations, etc.).
SONATA BIS aims to support the formation of new research teams to conduct basic research. The latest call was addressed at researchers with a PhD degree conferred between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2019. Eligible applicants had to demonstrate that their research track record included at least one paper published or accepted for publication and in the case of research in art, at least one paper published or accepted for publication or at least one artistic achievement or achievement in research in art.
69 funding proposals have been submitted to the latest edition of the
MAESTRO call, of which 7 received funding: 1 in Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences, 2 in Life Sciences and 4 in Physical Sciences and Engineering. The total funding awarded to the winning proposals amounts to over 29.7 million zlotys. The success rate was 10.14%.
417 proposals were submitted to SONATA BIS 14. Funding was awarded to 63 researches: 13 in Humanities, Social Sciences and Art Sciences, 18 in Life Sciences and 32 in Physical Sciences and Engineering. The total budget was nearly 206 million zlotys and the success rate was 15.11%.
In January 2025, the NCN Council decided to increase the budgets of MAESTRO 16 and SONATY BIS. As a result, more projects can be funded.
MAESTRO 16 Ranking List in pdf format, SONATA BIS 14 Ranking List in pdf format
Evaluation of proposals
Proposals submitted to MAESTRO and SONATA BIS undergo a two-stage merit-based evaluation performed by expert teams established by the NCN Council.
Firstly, proposals are reviewed by at least two team members acting individually. The team then agrees on the final score and decides whether or not the proposal it is eligible for the next stage. At stage two, proposals are reviewed by at least two (usually foreign) reviewers who are not members of the team. Furthermore, in MAESTRO and SONATA BIS principal investigators are interviewed in English on NCN’s premises. The final score is agreed by the team at the second meeting based on all individual reviews and interview results. The team is responsible for drafting the final ranking lists of proposals recommended for funding and the funding decision is taken by the NCN Director.
We have to date funded 304 projects with a total value of over 860 million zlotys under MAESTRO. In fourteen SONATA BIS calls, funding of nearly 2.04 billion zlotys went to 1044 researchers.
You can read the descriptions of projects implemented by Polish researchers owing to NCN grants on our website under Przykłady projektów [Funded projects] or on our social media under #projektyNCN #NCNToTlen #ludzieniebudynki #pokolenieNCN.
Delivery of decisions modified
As of MAESTRO 16 and SONATA BIS 14, decisions by the NCN Director will be delivered to the applicants only and will no longer be communicated to the principal investigators if applicants are entities specified in Article 27 (1) – (7) and Article 27 (9) of the NCN Act. If individuals apply, funding decisions must be delivered to the participating entity specified in the proposal. More on delivery of decisions.